| 话题中的页数: [1 2 3] > | Should I contact a former client for work ? 论题张贴者: Geordi IVORY
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Geordi IVORY
美国
Local time: 13:16
正式会员 (自2017)
French法语译成English英语
+ ...
Hello everyone,
A few months ago I was working with a client who giving me regular work at a decent pay for each file. Unfortunately, I missed two deadlines and the client was very disappointed with the work that I did on the file, citing a number of reasons. This ultimately ended the business relationship. I apologised, but with no success or response from the client.
What I am wondering, is it worth contacting this client again for work ? For the past few months it ha... See more Hello everyone,
A few months ago I was working with a client who giving me regular work at a decent pay for each file. Unfortunately, I missed two deadlines and the client was very disappointed with the work that I did on the file, citing a number of reasons. This ultimately ended the business relationship. I apologised, but with no success or response from the client.
What I am wondering, is it worth contacting this client again for work ? For the past few months it has been really difficult as I haven't found regular work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You won't get any more work (from this client) | Aug 9, 2016 |
Geordi wrote:
Hello everyone,
A few months ago I was working with a client who giving me regular work at a decent pay for each file. Unfortunately, I missed two deadlines and the client was very disappointed with the work that I did on the file, citing a number of reasons. This ultimately ended the business relationship. I apologised, but with no success or response from the client.
What I am wondering, is it worth contacting this client again for work ? For the past few months it has been really difficult as I haven't found regular work.
You may as well try, but it won't be any use. Deadlines are sacred!
Time to look for other clients and revise your work ethic.
[Edited at 2016-08-09 17:11 GMT]
| | | | | You must expect less and give more :(. | Aug 9, 2016 |
Geordi wrote:
For the past few months it has been really difficult as I haven't found regular work.
"Regular work" is for employees. As a freelancer it's always "feast or famine" to some extent. You just have to build a great client base to make sure you get more feast than famine. Never rely too much on one client or even a handful of clients. You need to have half-a-dozen regular ones and a dozen or more "irregular" ones. You should be invoicing several each month.
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It's not worth contacting them. Try expanding your client base, improve the quality of your translations (if you agree that the client's complaints about your translation were valid), and do whatever it takes to not miss another deadline.
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Linda Li
美国
Local time: 15:16
English英语译成Chinese汉语
| No harm in trying, but better to move on | Aug 9, 2016 |
I think you can try, but honestly I don't think it will work. The best thing to do is expanding your clients and trying to meet the deadline whenever you take a project. Think carefully if you have enough time to finish a job before you accept it. Learn from this lesson, we all make mistakes, and good luck！
| | | | John Fossey 
加拿大
Local time: 16:16
正式会员 (自2008)
French法语译成English英语
+ ...
| Yes, but give it some time | Aug 10, 2016 |
In my experience, time heals all. Occasionally, through one circumstance or another, I have had reason to expect I would never get any more orders from a client. But after 6 months or so, they need someone and their other choice is not available, and they become willing to try you again, usually to get themselves out of a tight spot. That's your opportunity to rekindle the relationship, and try harder next time.
Naturally, you also need to expand your clientele, so loss of one cl... See more In my experience, time heals all. Occasionally, through one circumstance or another, I have had reason to expect I would never get any more orders from a client. But after 6 months or so, they need someone and their other choice is not available, and they become willing to try you again, usually to get themselves out of a tight spot. That's your opportunity to rekindle the relationship, and try harder next time.
Naturally, you also need to expand your clientele, so loss of one client has little effect on you.
[Edited at 2016-08-10 04:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ilan Rubin (X)
俄罗斯联邦
Local time: 23:16
Russian俄语译成English英语
| Sorry, but... | Aug 10, 2016 |
I looked at the sample Fr>En translations in your profile. There are lots of errors in your English - both in sense and in punctuation. You even have a double full stop ('..') for some reason at the end of one sentence, and a space prior to a full stop at the end of another. If you can't make an effort to get your profile page right I'm not surprised that the agency hasn't got back to you, or that you don't have other work. You really need to think about whether this is the right profession for ... See more I looked at the sample Fr>En translations in your profile. There are lots of errors in your English - both in sense and in punctuation. You even have a double full stop ('..') for some reason at the end of one sentence, and a space prior to a full stop at the end of another. If you can't make an effort to get your profile page right I'm not surprised that the agency hasn't got back to you, or that you don't have other work. You really need to think about whether this is the right profession for you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B
波斯尼亚黑塞哥维纳
Local time: 22:16
正式会员 (自2009)
English英语译成Croatian克罗地亚语
+ ...
ILAN RUBIN wrote:
I looked at the sample Fr>En translations in your profile. There are lots of errors in your English - both in sense and in punctuation. You even have a double full stop ('..') for some reason at the end of one sentence, and a space prior to a full stop at the end of another. If you can't make an effort to get your profile page right I'm not surprised that the agency hasn't got back to you, or that you don't have other work. You really need to think about whether this is the right profession for you.
Is the full stop a bigger problem than awkward English that copies the French sentence order and style literally? Also, if translation is into native English, the native English countries don't understand "meters" (minus Canada) so it could at least be localized with inches between brackets. But the biggest problem would be sense resulting from literal translation, definitely a bigger one than the space before or after anything.
[Edited at 2016-08-10 08:41 GMT]
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| also a matter of rates | Aug 10, 2016 |
The source text of your sample also contains lots of mistakes: "la valorisation du fruit du moabi suscite un intérêt économique pour les villageois et même pour certains animaux!!!!. Les fruits contiennent une amande oléagineuses!!!. Lorsque l'amande est séchées, pliées!!!!, " Your translation is even better than the source text!!! However, your rates are far too high for the african market.
[Modifié le 2016-08-10 09:05 GMT]
[Modifié le 2016-08-10 09:06 GMT]
[Modi... See more The source text of your sample also contains lots of mistakes: "la valorisation du fruit du moabi suscite un intérêt économique pour les villageois et même pour certains animaux!!!!. Les fruits contiennent une amande oléagineuses!!!. Lorsque l'amande est séchées, pliées!!!!, " Your translation is even better than the source text!!! However, your rates are far too high for the african market.
[Modifié le 2016-08-10 09:05 GMT]
[Modifié le 2016-08-10 09:06 GMT]
[Modifié le 2016-08-10 09:11 GMT]
[Modifié le 2016-08-10 09:13 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | OT - worrying fact | Aug 10, 2016 |
ILAN RUBIN wrote:
I looked at the sample Fr>En translations in your profile. There are lots of errors in your English - both in sense and in punctuation.
I just put the first paragraph of the first one through the dreaded Google Translate (to my shame ). The output was actually a far better translation (although it did make a mess of one verb).
Geordi: If you're a native speaker of Haitian Creole, then I would advise you to translate into it, provided that you are a skilled writer of the language (which certainly does not apply to all native speakers of any language). Maybe into French if you're truly bilingual, as I believe many Haitians are. But you should only deliver English text that has been checked by a proofreader (at your expense) as those samples really aren't good enough.
David GAY wrote:
However, your rates are far too high for the african market.
I'm not sure that's relevant here. And Geordi gives a wide range so there should be a market, somewhere in this Internet world we work in. The main problem is one of value for money. If you employ one translator full time then you'll want to use them fully, in all language pairs possible even if the output isn't perfect, to get maximum return on investment. However, every client who contracts the services of a freelancer (in any profession) expects perfection - the best person for that one job. If you can't provide perfection then there are plenty of others out there who can.
| | | | Geordi IVORY
美国
Local time: 13:16
正式会员 (自2017)
French法语译成English英语
+ ...
主题发起人
Thank yo all for your advice. As regards to the samples that I have, those are very old. I haven't updated my profile since making it. I've done a lot of translation work since then and it's about time that I make some changes and put up a quality translation.
| | | | Lingua 5B
波斯尼亚黑塞哥维纳
Local time: 22:16
正式会员 (自2009)
English英语译成Croatian克罗地亚语
+ ...
| Sample errors. | Aug 10, 2016 |
Geordi wrote:
Thank yo all for your advice. As regards to the samples that I have, those are very old. I haven't updated my profile since making it. I've done a lot of translation work since then and it's about time that I make some changes and put up a quality translation.
You said your client had cited "a number of reasons". Can you give us one example of the error they indicated, other than deadline issues? And, was the translation for that client into English or French?
[Edited at 2016-08-10 10:03 GMT]
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Geordi IVORY
美国
Local time: 13:16
正式会员 (自2017)
French法语译成English英语
+ ...
主题发起人 | Sample errors | Aug 10, 2016 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
You said your client had cited "a number of reasons". Can you give us one example of the error they indicated, other than deadline issues? And, was the translation for that client into English or French?
[Edited at 2016-08-10 10:03 GMT]
File formatting (spacing) and untranslated text. It was in French
| | | | Ilan Rubin (X)
俄罗斯联邦
Local time: 23:16
Russian俄语译成English英语
Sheila Wilson wrote:
OT
Just wondering, Sheila, what OT means. Off topic?
Since I started following Milo on FB I've picked up lots of abbreviations I didn't know existed: sjw, mfw etc. 😊
| | | | | They're annoying, aren't they? | Aug 10, 2016 |
ILAN RUBIN wrote: Sheila Wilson wrote:
OT Just wondering, Sheila, what OT means. Off topic? Since I started following Milo on FB I've picked up lots of abbreviations I didn't know existed: sjw, mfw etc. 😊
You guessed right, Ilan  . Sorry, they're just too useful, particularly when trying to select the right letters on a tiny phone pad. And completely OT this time, I'm going to have to go away and research sjw and mfw. (I think I've got to grips with etc  .)
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